Paul K. Charlton (attorney)

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Paul K. Charlton was one of eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration in 2006 for "performance-related issues" under a controversial clause of the PATRIOT Act (see Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy). He was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on November 6, 2001.[1] Charlton was removed from office by Justice Department official Michael A. Battle on December 7, 2006, and announced his resignation on December 19, 2006.[1]

Charlton's office had been honored with the Federal Service Award and hailed by the Justice Department as a "model program" for its protection of crime victims.[2] Charlton ranked in the top third among the nation's 93 US attorneys in contributing to an overall 106,188 federal prosecutions filed in 2006; scored in the top third in number of convictions; oversaw a district in the top five highest in number of immigration-related prosecutions; ranked among the top 20 offices for drug prosecutions; and, unlike in the other seven cases, ranked high in weapons cases, prosecuting 199 of the United States' 9,313 such cases in 2006, the tenth-highest in the country and up four-fold from 2002.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] USA career and dismissal

See also: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
Administration Officials Involved
Resigned
Leave of Absence
US Attorneys who were fired
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Charlton was one of eight attorneys fired in the Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy.

In February 2005, Charlton had been on the "retain" list of Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez's chief of staff, but "by September of 2006 — after it became clear that Charlton had launched an investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz, — Sampson included the Arizona prosecutor on another list of U.S. attorneys 'we now should consider pushing out.'"[5] Sampson made the comment in a Sept. 13, 2006, letter to then-White House Counsel Harriet Miers.[6]

On March 19, 2007, the White House released 3,000 pages of records connected to the controversy, including emails sent by Charlton to the Justice Department about his dismissal. On Dec. 21, 2006, Charlton sent a message to Bill Mercer, the third-ranking official in the department, writing, "Media now asking if I was asked to resign over leak in Congressman Renzi investigation." Charlton never received a response.[7]

A second motivation for removing Sampson may have been the suggestions of Justice official Brent Ward, who said in a September 20, 2006 e-mail that Charlton was "unwilling to take good cases." Ward's reason for discounting Charlton appeared to be the US attorney's reluctance to pursue obscenity charges against adult video manufacturers in connection to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force.[8]

Charlton had clashed with the Bush Administration over the death penalty; in at least two cases he did not seek capital punishment but was overruled from Washington.[9][10]

After a disagreement over initiating the tape-recording of interviews and confessions by the FBI on American Indian reservations, which Charlton supported and the Justice Department opposed, Charlton offered to resign. In his congressional testimony on March 6, 2007, Charlton said he found "no small amount of irony" in the fact that he was eventually fired.[11]

Charlton has since become partner at Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A., in a practice that involves general business law and criminal defense with an emphasis on corporate compliance and Indian law issues.[12]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hartley, Allegra. "Timeline: How the U.S. Attorneys Were Fired", US News & World Report, 2007-03-21. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  2. ^ Blumenthal, Max. "The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors", The Nation, 2007-03-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  3. ^ Jordan, Lara Jakes. "Fired U.S. attorneys ranked above peers in prosecutions", Associated Press, 2007-03-21. Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
  4. ^ McCoy, Kevin. "3 fired prosecutors were in top 10 for convictions, federal data show", USA Today, 2007-03-22. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  5. ^ Hutcheson, Ron. "Emails detail plans for firing U.S. attorneys", McClatchy Newspapers, 2007-03-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-14.
  6. ^ Blumenthal, Max. "The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors", The Nation, 2007-03-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  7. ^ Madden, Mike. "Renzi inquiry at issue in ouster", Arizona Republic, 2007-03-21. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  8. ^ Blumenthal, Max. "The Porn Plot Against Prosecutors", The Nation, 2007-03-20. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  9. ^ "Charlton exit linked to death penalty push", Associated Press, 2007-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  10. ^ Serrano, Richard A.. "U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington", Los Angeles Times, 2007-03-11. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  11. ^ Serrano, Richard A.. "U.S. attorneys often clash with Washington", Los Angeles Times, 2007-03-11. Retrieved on 2007-03-26.
  12. ^ "Local people", Arizona Republic, 2007-02-24. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.

[edit] External links

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